If there is one thing that unites all of us, it’s Mario Kart. Don’t deny it, it’s practically become a cornerstone of geek and entertainment culture. The over 75 million copies of 8 Deluxe sold say enough. However, the announcement of Mario Kart World, the new launch title for the upcoming Switch 2, has been a mixed bag of emotions. On the one hand, the game seems to play fantastically with the new Knockout Tour mode looking like hectic fun, and the new mechanics allowing for insane mobility. On the other hand, though, the price. I won’t go into it too much here. However, given that the 80-dollar price tag feels like an effort to push a higher standard MSRP for games this gen by the industry as a whole for the sake of it despite ever increasing revenue, I don’t blame those who aren’t willing to pick up the game and have been vocally aggressive towards Nintendo about it. However, there is one element of this game I do want to discuss further here, and that is the character roster and how I kind of love its insane approach.
One thing you have to know about me is that I love the ability to play as oddball characters in games. In Smash Bros, the Piranha Plant has been one of my go-to characters simply because it’s a simple, generic enemy fighting all-star gaming characters. In regular Mario Kart, I gravitate to drivers like Dry Bones or Wiggler since they feel strange and aren’t what people would expect in terms of possible racers. With World, however, the seal has been broken, and basically most of the new characters, 20 in total that we know of and 4 coming over from the mobile game Mario Kart Tour, are bizarre and odd picks.
There are a couple of new picks that feel more understandable. The four picks from Tour, Hammer Bro, Chargin’ Chuck, Monty Mole, and Nabbit are all recognizable mainstays in the series and feel very justified. The Pianta and Spike have also been added as completely new characters, which makes sense since the former has been around in previous spinoffs plenty of times, including in crowds in other Mario Karts, and Spike has gotten a bit more love over the past few years as well. Same with the Penguin, who has been around consistently since Mario 64 and even was spotted in a notable scene in the Mario movie. A good number of choices feel like more normal ones to add to the series, given their relevance and continual appearances in the franchise as a whole. However, there are the strange ones.
In terms of more absurd picks, there are a couple of highlights. The one that was given more attention during the game’s reveal and broke the internet more than any other was the Cow from Moo Moo Meadows. Given both the internet popularity of the course, both game-wise and in online meme jokes, it’s funny seeing Nintendo go a step further and just make an element of that course playable. Even without the online element, the simple image of seeing a Cow drive is just funny in its own right. Beforehand, some consideration seemed to go to characters based on motor function and being able to grip the wheel properly. Well, that has gone out the window completely now.
The other characters that seem even more strange have no arms or even legs at all, and can still drive. The Goomba, while being the original Mario enemy, seemed like an odd pick since his most defining feature is that he has no arms. Nintendo seemed to decide that the question doesn’t matter and that it can drive anyway. The Pokey, which is just a multi-sectioned cactus, is also a recognizable enemy without limbs that’s been given the keys to the kart. The Cataquack, which hasn’t appeared in a new Mario game since the late 2000s, is back as a racer due to an old course it was on coming back. Even Piranha Plant, who was the most insane Smash character pick, has been made playable through the same method of giving him a pot to sit in and having him steer with his leaves. The Dolphin that has appeared occasionally since Super Mario World is here alongside the Dolphin bike from Mario Kart Wii. Same goes with the Cheep Cheep, which is just a fish. The most insane character, though, in my opinion, is the Snowman. It’s not a snow-themed character or anything, just the regular, non-sentient snowman that has appeared in many Mario games and has its design come straight from Mario Kart 8. At this point, these picks get so wild that I just enjoy how far the developers are trying to stretch the rules of who can drive in this series.
While I do love this roster, I do have two points to discuss about it. Firstly, it’s apparent that the priority with choosing new characters was driven by ease of development. Almost every new addition is already present on tracks either as obstacles or in the background. I mentioned Cataquack before, for example, who is likely only here because Peach Beach returned and prominently features these enemies as obstacles. Same with characters like the bat-like Swoop, the crab enemy Sidestepper, and the fish skeleton Fish Bone. Henceforth, they would be much easier to develop compared to a character only being created to drive. Adding to that, the fact that a lot of these characters don’t have arms or limbs at all means less overall work animation-wise. While it’s completely understandable that this approach was taken, especially with a game that is trying something new on a huge scale, I do wish there was a proper balance between these odd picks and more requested new or returning picks.
The roster does feel like it’s missing a few more substantial characters. Diddy Kong has been snubbed again. Petey Piranha is not here despite all the Mario Sunshine representation. Kamek has been turned into an item, which is a shame since he waited for decades after being cut during Mario Kart 64’s development to finally be playable in Mario Kart 8, only to be cut again in the game after. Even in regards to new additions, I feel a couple more prominent faces, such as Professor E Gadd (who was cut from Mario Kart DS), and King Bob-Omb, who appeared in Tour, could have been chosen and are highly requested. Now, that’s not to say that any of these characters aren’t hidden in the game or that they won’t come as DLC. However, I just feel a bit more structure with the roster could have evened a few elements out and made it feel a bit less slapdash in places, despite my enjoyment of its unhinged charm.
Even so, despite my few gripes, I genuinely love the direction the new roster has taken here. An appeal of playing spinoff games is the chance to play as characters you never get the chance to in main series titles. Mario Kart has always allowed certain faces their time in the spotlight, and it’s been taken to an absurd degree here. It makes me genuinely excited to play this game when it comes out in a little over a month. We’ve been stuck with Mario Kart 8 for over a decade now, so doing something completely off the wall and different for the new game is very much welcome. Given the direction of the gameplay, track design, and roster in World, I’m glad with how the developers have approached making a new game.
